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Hemp, Canola Studied For BC Bioenergy
By Hempology | May 10, 2007
Maple Ridge News
May8/07VICTORIA – Even before significant increases in temperature, climate change is starting to prompt shifts in B.C. agriculture.
Increased interest in carbon-neutral fuel sources has put the focus on ethanol and biodiesel options for farmland. One of the crops that has popped up around B.C. is industrial hemp, a fast-growing plant that produces vegetable oil as well as tough fibre used in rope and textiles.
A 110-acre hemp crop was planted in the 100 Mile House area in 2006. The agriculture ministry says smaller hemp plantings have been done at Smithers, West Moberly near Fort St. John and on Vancouver Island. B.C. Agriculture Minister Pat Bell said the 100 Mile House pilot project is being increased to 200 acres this year, to get to a volume where processing facilities could use it to produce fibre and potentially ethanol. B.C. is following the lead of Manitoba, which has 28,000 acres in hemp, and Saskatchewan with 14,000 acres in cultivation.
A fuel with greater potential is biodiesel, which can be used full-strength in conventional diesel engines. It can be made from recycled restaurant cooking oil, or from oilseeds such as canola.
The province provided $75,000 for a feasibility study of a biodiesel production plant in the Peace region, where most of B.C.’s 45.000 tons of canola is grown each year. The study found that production, along with 11,000 tons from Alberta, would feed a “best-size” biodiesel plant producing 22.7 million litres of the fuel per year.
“We wanted to see if biodiesel production was a viable option for Peace canola growers, and it looks like it is,” said Irmi Critcher, president of the B.C. Grain Producers Association, which conducted the study.
Ethanol in Canada is mainly produced today from feed grain. Husky Energy has plants in Saskatchewan and Manitoba, both provinces that have mandated ethanol use in gasoline. An unmodified engine can use gasoline with up to 10 per cent ethanol, which is marketed by Husky and Mohawk gas stations as a cleaner fuel with lower greenhouse gas emissions.
Husky also has a refinery at Prince George, and Bell said the company is studying the addition of an ethanol plant that would take advantage of waste heat from the petroleum side.
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